Feud of the Week: Edward Snowden vs. Dianne Feinstein

The first punch: Dianne Feinstein didn’t mean to pick a fight with Edward Snowden when she took to the floor of the Senate on Tuesday to demand that the C.I.A. apologize after they, in her words, “went and searched the committee's computers.” The committee in question is the Senate Intelligence Committee, which Feinstein chairs—and which has been investigating the C.I.A.’s “Detention and Interrogation” (read: torture) program for years.

The senior senator from California called Agency’s alleged search and removal of documents from committee drives a “defining moment” in congressional oversight and vows that she’s “not taking it lightly.” But this is hardly the first time Feinstein has thrown a blow: Earlier this year, she accused N.S.A. whistleblower Edward Snowden of “treason” and grilled the N.S.A. for not having been able to prevent the former Booz Allen contractor from disclosing the agency’s unpredicted surveillance programs.

Feinstein’s committee says its investigation of the Detention and Interrogation Program has been imperiled by CIA meddling, particular in regards to the Panetta Review, an allegedly damning internal CIA document on the program. The CIA responded in turn by accusing Senate staffers of hacking into CIA drives and stealing documents above their clearance level.

The counterpunch: To Snowden, the fact that the C.I.A. spied on the very lawmakers tasked with overseeing the agency is troubling—but no more troubling than the fact that the American government has been collecting data on millions of unsuspected American citizens.

"It's clear the CIA was trying to play 'keep away' with documents relevant to an investigation by their overseers in Congress, and that's a serious constitutional concern. But it's equally if not more concerning that we're seeing another 'Merkel Effect,' where an elected official does not care at all that the rights of millions of ordinary citizens are violated by our spies, but suddenly it's a scandal when a politician finds out the same thing happens to them."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was outraged by revelations that the NSA listened in on her personal cell phone, and even compared the agency to the Stasi in a discussion with Barack Obama. Critics accused her of hypocrisy given her relative lack of interest in the NSA program until her own phone was involved.

The fallout: For what it’s worth (not much, we suspect), C.I.A. Director John Brennan promptly denied Feinstein’s accusations, saying, “Nothing could be further from the truth.” The director added that he believes the C.I.A. “wouldn’t do that” and asked lawmakers not to “overstate what they claim and what they probably believe to be the truth.” Brennan’s agency has also asked the Justice Department to look into whether or not the Senate committee illegally accessed files above the clearance level of Senate staffers, a move that further enraged Feinstein. Adding more insult to Feinstein’s injury: Obama himself said the White House won’t “wade into” the fray, though NBC reports that a top Obama aide and lawyer met with the California senator.

The verdict: Who wins this round? Well, it’s clear that Feinstein, usually a fierce defender of the intelligence community, intends to see that the committee’s investigation of the C.I.A. all the way through. But regardless of the outcome, she’s already proven not only Snowden’s point (namely, that domestic surveillance needs to be reigned in) but justified his methods. If a senior senator with a history of defending the intelligence community can’t open a C.I.A. inquiry without being compromised, slandered, and referred to the Justice Department, how can anyone expect either the Congress or the intelligence community to seriously deal with the gripes of an unknown NSA contractor?